In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Punjab Police on Tuesday conducted a special cordon and search operation at and around all railway stations and bus stands across the state.

The operation was conducted on the directions of Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav as part of confidence-building measures and to tighten the grip over anti-social elements. Polling for 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will take place on June 1.

The cordon and search operation was conducted from 11 am to 3 pm simultaneously in all districts under which police teams along with teams of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) frisked people arriving and departing at the railway stations and bus stands.

The police teams also checked two-wheelers and four-wheelers stationed at the parking of railway stations and bus stands using VAHAN App during the operation.

Special DGP (law and order) Arpit Shukla said that all police officers were asked to deploy at least two police teams per railway station and bus stand under the supervision of a gazetted officer to carry out this operation.

“We had strictly instructed all the police personnel to deal with every person in a friendly and polite manner while frisking them during the course of this operation,” he added.

Shukla said that around 221 police teams, involving over 2,000 police personnel, were deputed across Punjab to look for suspicious persons at different railway stations and bus stands in the state while ensuring minimum inconvenience to them.

He said that 3,851 suspicious persons were checked during the operation conducted at 193 railway stations and 162 bus stands in the state.

The police teams also checked at least 3,002 vehicles stationed at the parking of railway stations and bus stands using the VAHAN App.